Saw my pain management dr today

So my husband see's this pain management dr. I was able to get in to see him today. He is understaffed, the result of 2 nurse practitioners leaving, and he said my primary doctor providing my written prescriptions will work best for him. Then I see him yearly to get PT orders and an eval.

I was rather taken aback at some of the things he brought up. He seemed seriously distracted, which is understandable since he's understaffed. I asked what he would recommend for someone in my position, who's had 20 surgeries, many spinal fusions and basically a messed up back. He really didn't give me a direct response. He said a lot of doctors don't want to prescribe pain medication because of all the monitoring that is required. Then he said some people go to a detox center to get off the pain med's, and then learn to live without them. He did say for my situation it wouldn't be a wise decision. He called my general practitioner today and discussed the med's and that she can prescribe them to me. She is prescribing right now, but she wanted me to see a pain clinic to get recommendations on what specific med's to take and the dosage. He recommended the vicodin and ms contin.

My pain is so NOT under control right now. I made an appointment with my GP for Friday, so at least I don't have to wait that long. It's just so frustrating. Because of the drug abusers, it makes it so much harder for people in genuine pain to get the help they need.

I thought he would be more knowledgable on intractable pain and how it affects the body, but he didn't seem to be. My BP today was 165/102. I'm on amblodipine, but it doesn't seem to be helping. My BP went up when my pain started getting out of control, and it hasn't come down to normal unless my pain is under control.

Southview I am sorry that the outcome was not good with this dr, but surely he is not the only PM dr in your area, so don't give up. Talk to your PCP about how the appt went just as you did here with the under staffing problem and him appearing to really not knowing what to recommend that you take. You sure do not need a dr taking care of you like that. You are right there are many different medications on the market for pain and they need to find which one or ones that will work for you. You should not be expected to live in the pain you are, it affects and takes away quality life.

At least he was honest with you about how it is getting out there to find a dr that will rx pain medications because the abusers have certainly ruined it for the people that need it. Sometimes I honestly feel like the media is mainly at fault here because they jump on it like fish in a feeding frenzy. The drs are running scared because of all of the hype and some of those drs should be scared because they are another source of the problem. Bottom line is the action of so many has just ruined totally.

I do not know how interested you are in a pain pump, but you may want to go to Medtronics.com and read about the pain pump to see if this may be something for you. If you are interested then speak to your dr about it.

Take care.

Susie